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Frederick Clarkson, a senior fellow at Political Research Associates (PRA), has written an important, insightful, and almost certainly prophetic look at the strengthening alliance between Roman Catholic and Protestant elements of the religious right.

As PRA summarizes:

Despite recent losses in the culture war, the Christian Right is forging a path forward by rallying around a few key issues: antichoice, opposition to marriage equality, and the defense of “religious liberty.” These themes—set forth in the influential Manhattan Declaration in 2009—have proved powerful enough to unify conservative Catholics and Protestants against their common enemies.

From Clarkson's article:

Given the Christian Right’s recent defeats in the realm of marriage equality, it might seem that its power is diminishing and that the so-called culture wars are receding. But “We Stand in Solidarity” is one of many indications that its resolve has deepened rather than dissipated in the face of recent political setbacks. This dynamic, multifaceted movement—one of the most powerful in U.S. history—aims to become a renewed, vigorous force in American public life, and it continues to evolve even while maintaining its views on core issues.

Notably, the movement is being shaped and sustained by a political alliance between evangelicals and the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. Though it was unthinkable as recently as a decade ago, this developing evangelical-Catholic alliance is key to understanding the Christian Right’s plan for regrouping in the near term—and ultimately reclaiming the future.

No one who values democracy can applaud this military takeover, much less the jailing and silencing of nearly all the Muslim Brotherhood's leadership. They were, after all, the duly elected government of Egypt. As Khalid Abou el Fadl angrily points out in al Jazeera, the secularists who protested the harassment of television host Bassem Youssef have had little to say about the wholesale shuttering of Muslim Brotherhood media.

Yet, no one can overlook the fact that, much like the Religious Right in America, the Muslim Brotherhood aspires to a majoritarian dictatorship. From the start, the Brotherhood's goal has been to restore the Caliphate. "I have been saying all along, 'If you want to build Shariah law, come to elections.'" a dismayed Libyan Islamist sheikh is quoted as saying in the New York Times. This neatly sums up why Old Time Religion cannot lead a modern liberal democracy. To OTR, elections are merely a portal to a way-back machine.

Power-sharing, pluralism, minority rights -- these are alien concepts to those who seek to rule in God's name. Yet, these concepts form the heartbeat of liberal democracy. Mere majoritarian rule is no less arbitrary and cruel than dictatorship. In Egypt, it unleashed vicious assaults on the Coptic Christian minority. In Iran, the 1979 overthrow of the Shah led to an Islamic Republic that brutally suppressed its native Baha'i minority. But there's nothing special about Islam in this: free elections in Burma have led to the savage persecution of Muslims by the Buddhist majority there.

Fundamentalist Pastor Steven Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona recently appeared on an Irish radio show. I’m not sure what the expectation was, but the host spoke with him for over an hour — with callers — and Anderson found a way to piss off just about everyone. (***Update***: For the uninitiated, you can read more posts about Anderson here, here, here, and here.)

Putin, who has embraced the Russian Orthodox Church as a moral authority and harnessed its influence as a source of political support, has championed socially conservative values since winning a six-year third term in May 2012.

The 60-year-old president denies that Russia discriminates against gays but he has criticized them for failing to increase the country’s population....

Activists say violence against homosexuals has increased since Putin returned to the Kremlin after four years as prime minister and that it is being fuelled by the bill and other aspects of his conservative agenda.

Conservative lawmakers in Afghanistan have blocked legislation that would enshrine in law current government policies designed to protect women's freedoms.

The legislation was withdrawn shortly after being introduced to the nation's 352-member National Assembly, after an outcry from right-wing religious groups. Liberals are concerned that if the policies are not made law, they could be overturned by a future president.

While conversion therapy faces challenges from within and without the movement, the report’s authors suggest caution regarding the Christian Right’s ability to adapt, and the mainstream influence these antigay organizations continue to possess. As recently as 2010, Exodus Global Alliance representatives attended the Third Lausanne Congress, the world’s largest conference of evangelical leaders, leading sessions on sexuality and promoting ex-gay therapy and other harmful psychological views of homosexuality. A conference endorsed by such high-profile figures as Rick Warren and Billy Graham, it’s acceptance of Exodus gives it mainstream sanction for its views.

A conservative radio host and the president of the Southern Baptist Convention suggested recently that support of same-sex marriage and gay rights could be linked to North Korea's most recent threats against the United States.

During the program, Wiles pointed out that at the same time the Supreme Court is reviewing the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California's Proposition 8, Kim is threatening the U.S. with a military strike. "Could the two be connected?"

Bryan Fischer has been under the weather for the last several day and the tone of his show has mellowed tremendously as he simply has not been feeling up to delivering the bombastic diatribes we have come to expect from him.

After missing yesterday's show, Fischer returned today feeling a bit better and, accordingly, his show is beginning to return to normal ... as demonstrated by the fact that he responded to a caller wondering whether President Obama was a forerunner to the Antichrist by declaring that Satan is always at work grooming counterfeit religions and false leaders, so "it's too early to say"

[W]hether you're an atheist or not, the issue of who's going to hell or not matters because there are a lot of folks on this planet - many of them extraordinarily well-armed - from born-again American military personnel to Muslim fanatics, who seriously believe that God smiles upon them when they send their enemies to hell.

And so my view of "hell" encompasses two things: First, the theological question about whether a land of eternal suffering exists as God's "great plan" for most of humanity.